1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer network server technology, and more particularly, to a blade server performance management method and system, which is designed for use with a blade server including a cluster of server modules to provide a performance management function on the clustered server modules with the purpose of allowing all the clustered server modules to have sufficient power load to operate normally as well as protecting each of the clustered server modules from being burned out due to an overly high working temperature during high-performance operation.
2. Description of Related Art
Blade server is a clustering type of network server, which is characterized by the use of a circuit board enclosure to integrate a cluster of server modules (commonly called “blades”), with all of these server modules providing the same server function. In other words, a blade server can respond to a client's request by linking any one of the clustered server modules to the client. In practice, each server module is embodied as a single circuit board (i.e., blade), which can be easily fitted to the blade server's enclosure to increase the blade server's client serving capacity.
Fundamentally, each of the clustered server modules in a blade server is equipped with one or more CPUs (Central Processing Unit) for independent data processing, and each CPU typically comes with two or more operating modes of different performance levels that can be arbitrarily set by system or user to provide different data processing speeds. Different models of CPUs may offer different operating modes. For example, a certain type of CPU offers two operating modes, respectively called automatic mode and on-demand mode, wherein the automatic mode is higher in performance level than the on-demand mode; and another type of CPU offers two operating modes, respectively called automatic mode and throttling mode, wherein the automatic mode is higher in performance level than the throttling mode. Fundamentally, a high level of operating mode would provide a higher processing speed, but would notwithstanding consume more electrical power and cause higher working temperature in the CPU.
In application, the clustered server modules in blade server are typically set to different CPU operating modes, so that some of them can provide higher data serving capacity and speed. However, since a server module with a higher CPU performance level also has a higher rate of power consumption, it may cause other server modules with a lower CPU performance to be underpowered and thus unable to operate normally.
Moreover, since a server module with a higher CPU performance level consumes more electrical power, it would lead to a higher working temperature during operation. When a server module's CPU working temperature exceeds an overheating limit, it could cause the server module's CPU to burn out and thus fail to operate normally.